Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tears blurred her vision. She struggled to make out where exactly she was. What she could see for now was an unknown couple standing in front of her, speaking in foreign tongues while dressed in exotic outfits. Smiling, but like her, full of tears.

Beneath her, the surface felt soft, fluffy, almost like a bed. A cradle, perhaps?

But when her vision cleared up, she noticed that the sides were made of metal, shimmering under the lights. She had never seen a metallic cradle before.

Besides, its design wasn’t quite as conventional as most cradles were supposed to be. In fact, it looked curvy, sleek, aerodynamic even. Like some kind of a… spaceship?

Not long after, one of them got closer to her. What followed was a gentle kiss on her forehead, shortly followed by another one. They were both taking turns in their kisses as it turned out, and she couldn’t help but to feel a familial warmth coursing from their touch.

When this mysterious couple took a step back, she could now see the things around them much clearer.

Just where exactly was she?

The room looked so foreign to her, and it wasn’t just because she was already used to the wooden ceilings of her traditionally built dwelling. She knew how modern homes looked like, but this one… it looked more like a set of a sci-fi movie if anything. And a really high budget one at that.

Suddenly, the ground beneath trembled violently.

Worry was marked on their faces. Eventually, a glass panel was slowly sealing her inside, providing a degree of separation between her and the two adults.

So it was a spaceship after all.

Slowly, the craft angled upright, followed by a blinding flash of light emanating from below. The couple waved their hands tearfully, for this could very well be their last time.

It didn’t take long before she was blasted off into the skies. From there, the sobbing couple became nothing more than just a speck of dust to her. In just a few moments, she was already high enough to see entire cities. And oh dear, what a breath-taking sight it was.

She had never seen anything like this before. A hyper-futuristic cityscape. Skyscrapers taller than life. If anything, it resembled more of a utopian paradise like in one of those space movies. An embodiment of urban perfection.

It truly was a world unlike anything else.

Her trajectory remained unchanged as she traversed the atmosphere. Eventually, she could see the curvature of this peculiar world, before being able to see the entire sphere.

This isn’t Earth.

She knew how her home planet looked like. It was mostly blue, with chunks of green interspersed in between, shaping into the continents that formed the familiar shapes one would usually see on a globe. But this one, this planet, the landmasses just looked… different.

And if this wasn’t Earth, then what exactly was this planet?

The oddity didn’t stop there. Moons were orbiting the planet. Indeed, there were more than one, and they came in different sizes too. And speaking of size, the sun that this planet revolved around was much bigger than the one she was familiar with. And much redder too.

Unfortunately, time was running out for her to fully understand this alien environment she was in. For shortly after, she was blinded by explosions, detonating from the very world she was launched off from.

Boom.

Boom.

Chapter Text

Beep.

Beep.

Crimson eyes shook open abruptly. Chika unconsciously jerked her body upwards. The alarm was still ringing from her nightstand, but her mind was too preoccupied by what had just happened in her sleep.

Just what exactly was that dream?

Chika found herself sitting on the soft mattress, hyperventilating after going through what was undeniably a bizarre dream. She wasn’t sure if it were scary enough to be called a nightmare, but then, how could anything involving a world-ending catastrophe not be one?

World-ending. It was a spooky possibility alright, but it wasn’t Earth that exploded in her dreams, or at least, the Earth that she knew about. But why the dream? Could it be because of those movies she’s been watching lately? Or perhaps it was because of that stargazing session she had the other day at Kanan’s place with all those crazy talks about distant planets? Chika wasn’t quite sure.

Even then, it didn’t help that the dream felt incredibly vivid. What did the alien world have anything to do with her? She couldn’t shake off the feeling that all this might have had happened somewhere light years away from her bed, like it was some kind of a distant memory.

Okay, maybe that was a stretch. Chika has a penchant for coming up with zany conclusions sometimes, but even she knew her zaniness has its limits.

“Ow!”

Unfortunately, her morning just got a little worse.

Chika groaned as the world around her began to alter in ways even her mind could not bear. Her breath hitched intensely in her panicked state, and she even tried to rub her head to ease off the growing pain. It was no use.

Ugh, not again.

The loud ringing of her alarm amplified to unbearable volumes. Harsh white noise began to creep up in her ears. It was enough to drive someone mad. That much noise should be deafening, and yet, her eardrums were still perfectly intact. Her mind, however, was overwhelmed.

Elephants were walking along the inn corridors. Jet engines veered along the main road. Typhoons blew ravenously as tidal waves were crashing on the nearby beach. Everybody was talking to a microphone plugged into the loudest speakers imaginable. Kick drums replaced heartbeats.

The fact that she could hear something as faint as someone’s heartbeat this loud still freaked her out.

As if that weren’t enough, flashing lights and vivid colours brutally filled her vision to the brim. Hues shifted wildly between extreme reds and violets. Layers of opaque solid faded into invisibility. Her eyesight was zooming in and out uncontrollably as she turned her head around; one second she could see the fine details of the wall beside her, the other second, she could see her friend’s house on the nearby island with perfect clarity.

Closing her eyes didn’t help recede the panic either, for she could see through her eyelids.

Meanwhile, she could hear rumbling footsteps getting louder and louder, as if it was heading for her. Sure enough, the doors slid open like how thunder splits the skies, followed by what felt like megaphones placed directly at her ears.

“Chika, you’re gonna be late for school again!”

Despite the cacophony, she could clearly make out the source of that piercing scream. Slowly, she turned her head around, preparing herself for the ire of…

A live skeletal figure of her older sister.

Ahh, as if Mito-nee couldn’t get any scarier…

The older sibling wasn’t always the mean sister Chika made her out to be though. After realising the anguish her younger sister was going through, Mito’s demeanour took a sharp 180-degree turn. She slowly approached Chika, being as careful as she could to avoid upsetting her any further.

Mito knelt down just by the bedside. First, she switched off the blaring alarm that had been terrorising their ears this whole time. Then, she outstretched her arm and reached for Chika.

“There, there…” A gentle stroke on the back was what she hoped would calm her down. Unlike from the boisterous entrance she made earlier, Mito assumed a much gentler tone when speaking, hoping that it would soften her sister’s agony.

She saw Chika slowly turning her teary eyes towards her, only to flinch away instantly.

“Take a deep breath,” she whispered calmly. Having been raised under the same roof, Mito was well aware of Chika’s peculiar condition since she was little. To an outsider, this might seem like a classic case of a panic attack, but Mito knew that it was much more than that. She couldn’t even imagine how it must’ve felt like to be in the same position as her.

The whispering managed to swim its way against all the currents into Chika’s head, and it was more than enough proof that she could have this all under control. It was the exact same piece of advice from her mother back when this happened the first time, and it still proved its worth to this day. Chika was extremely grateful to have such a supportive family.

With that, she calmed her breathing down, trying to regain control over her own senses. She tried her best to keep her focus small and specific.

Slowly, faraway noises faded into oblivion, leaving nothing but blissful silence. Gentle breezes were no longer mistaken for hurricanes. The volume knob of the entire world was finally turned down.

Her eyesight began to clear up as well. All those intrusive colours were successfully filtered out. As she turned around, the moving skull from before gradually enveloped itself in flesh before a layer of skin finished it off.

Now this was the Mito she had grown to recognise. Light brown hair. Eyes as red as hers. Concern was painted on her youthful face; she must’ve been dead worried about her.

“Feeling better?”

Chika’s only response was a nod. She felt more at ease now, albeit a little guilty for having her sister putting up with her like this.

She then noticed that Mito’s reassuring smile had slowly morphed into that of a cheeky grin.

“Now look at the time.”

The teasing made her a little uncomfortable, like something bad was about to happen. Sure enough, when she looked at her phone’s lock screen, a sudden shriek escaped her lips.

7:20 am

On a school day, nonetheless!

There wasn’t much time left before the first of her classes starts, and she was certain that all the buses that would take her before the bell rings had already gone beyond her nearest stop. Walking the way would obviously take twice the time. Either way, she was bound to be late.

Unless… she could go for a run along a shortcut instead.

“Ahh, g-give me a minute, Mito-nee!”

And a minute was all Chika needed.

The youngest of the Takami family jumped off her mattress much to Mito’s surprise. The older sister backed away from the scene, and from there, she saw something that would make everybody else rub their eyes in disbelief.

Chika had faded into a blur of orange, moving wildly across the room. Her motions were just too quick for the human eye to catch. A strong gust of wind followed, almost as if Mito were standing just beside a passing train.

In mere seconds, the orange blur finished its movement at the windowsill, revealing a Chika fully clad in her school uniform. Her appearance was no longer messy. All her clothes were clean, her orange hair was kept tidy; she even had the time to put on her cloverleaf hairclip and to braid her orange hair behind her left ear. It didn’t even look like she had rushed it.

“I’m leaving!”

The momentary pause ended when Chika jumped out from the window, leaving her sister with no time to say her goodbyes.

When Mito turned her eyes back at the room, she heaved out a sigh. All that super-speed and yet she couldn’t even spare another second to tidy up her room.

Meanwhile, Chika had landed safely on the ground outside, before making a run into the woods behind the inn.

Enter her so-called shortcut.

In reality, the path she was about to embark on would be slightly longer than the usual path, but it was somewhere where she could run as fast as she could, away from prying eyes.

People will definitely start to freak out if they see a schoolgirl running faster than their motor vehicles.

Her pace accelerated when she was deep within the woods, but even in her frantic dash, she was careful not to hit any of the trees along the way.

“Oops.”

Or at least, she tried to. When Chika did find herself in the clumsy side, well, the tree simply yielded and collapsed, causing a loud thud that drove all the birds away. That’s why the precaution.

Eventually, the wild vegetation transitioned into a domesticated one, where tall, old trees were no longer anywhere to be seen. In its place, crops of uniform size lined up geometrically.

She was now in Mr. Tanaka’s mikan farm.

Her family were close friends with him and his family, so sometimes, he would give away a free box full of that sweet, delicious fruit, all for them to devour. Although his farm was relatively smaller than the big ones with huge swathes of land down the peninsula, she found Mr. Tanaka’s mikans to be one of the best she had ever tasted.

It was juicy, sweet, and it hits all the right spots in her tongue. Maybe it’s the size of the farm. Maybe it’s the soil. Maybe it’s his more traditional approach. Either way, the fruits grown here were something straight out of heaven, enough to make someone crave for more.

She even met the farmer personally a couple of times before, and she even swore that he had said something along the lines of “feel free to take some for yourself whenever you visit the farm” to her.

Well, don’t mind if I do.

She slowed down her pace (although still considerably quick), before reaching out for one of the many mikans that were abundant on this fertile soil. She made sure to latch on the fruit gently, while using just the right amount of force to pull it out from its stems. Any stronger and she could mess this up.

In a flash, a single mikan was gone from the tree. At least there were many others on the tree, so it shouldn’t be that noticeable.

Chika then slipped it inside her bag, saving it as a late breakfast for later.

She continued her dash until she came across a valley right on her path, with a few houses located down there. Across the trough, she could see her school standing proudly atop the hill.

Not a problem. Chika knew exactly what to do.

With a push from her legs, the girl launched herself up into the skies. She now found herself leaping towards her school with her feet hanging miles over the populated valley. Well, populated as in, ‘only a few people live here, the rest is farmland’ populated, but still populated. There were also strips of asphalt going through the area, and well, even if the traffic was light, she wouldn’t risk running through it.

So jump it was. Her body had always felt rather light sometimes.

High up in the skies, she held on tightly for her bag. If she were careless enough to drop it, all its contents would meet the unfortunate fate that is gravity, crushed onto the ground until they were all bits and pieces. Including the mikan she just plucked earlier.

What a waste of a delicious mikan that would be.

Eventually, the ground was coming closer to her eyes. Well, what goes up must come down, she supposed.

The problem now would be how to land after such a humongous leap. The last thing anybody needed was a Chika-shaped crater.

She had to admit, landing had always been the toughest part. Simply stopping herself onto the ground would screw her momentum; not to mention at the speed she was going, the sudden deceleration might have an impact around her too.

But it was too late to think any further. By the time gravity pulled Chika back onto the ground, she found herself rolling along the grass, which at least helped slow her down a bit. She still held on to her bag, hopefully it wouldn’t come out damaged after all this.

This went on until she rolled through a thick bush near the school perimeter, finally putting a halt to her motion. She got out unscathed, quickly standing up before anybody could notice. After dusting the dirt off from her uniform, Chika looked at her watch.

7:23 am

Fast, but not quite a record. She had done quicker before— wait, had someone just fell onto the ground?

Chika looked behind her, where a dark blue-haired girl was wincing in pain. A junior it seemed, judging from the colour of her scarf. She peered into her bones from afar, just to see if she had broken any. Luckily, she hadn’t.

“Chika-chan!”

Her ears perked up at the familiar sound of her best friend, instantly turning her attention back at the school gates.

“You-chan!” Chika waved back.

Her grey-haired friend ran towards her, bringing along a bubbly smile that was sure to cheer anybody's day up. When she got close enough, the girl then bent her right arm towards her forehead, performing her trademark morning salute.

“Ohayousoro!”

Chika had been friends with You since they were little, and she was so glad that they still stuck around after all these years. Having You on her side had always been a blessing, just being within her presence was enough to feel more at ease. There’s something about her that was so reassuring, and her bubbly personality made her a pleasure to hang out with.

She was the most perfect friend Chika could’ve ever asked for.

“Hey, uhh, there’s a twig on your hair.”

Chika snapped back to reality after busy mentally fawning over You.

“There is?”

“Yeah, let me get it for you…”

You’s hand went up Chika’s head, reaching for the wood caught up in the strands of orange. Turns out, the twig was found tangled at her cowlick, so You slowly pulled it out, before tossing it away on the grass.

Chika just scratched her head nervously. “I, uhh, tripped?”

“You gotta be more careful then, Chika-chan. Well, the bells are about to ring anyways, so let’s go!”

----

After a long day of classes, Chika found herself somewhere near the school’s field, sitting absentmindedly on the stands. Since she wasn’t part of any extracurricular clubs, she basically had a leeway of going home earlier, but sometimes, she would rather wait it out just to walk home together with her friend.

In fact, she was at the pool earlier, accompanying You who was part of the swim club. She even stayed for a little while, watching her friend in action alongside her peers. The grey-haired girl was a promising talent when it comes to diving, and it showed. She represented the local district numerous times already, even making it into the nationals at one point.

Oh, how Chika wished to do the same.

She remembered how back in middle school, she finally mustered up the courage to join a club. The swimming club, to be precise. She could finally spend her after-school hours doing things together with You.

Only for her parents to forbid her from doing so.

Chika remembered how dejected she was, and how surprised You and Kanan were when she first broke the news to them. After all, the three of them spent most of their time by the sea, sometimes even under it. So hearing their friend who they see as an amazing swimmer being refused the permission came off as a shock.

Of course, she didn’t divulge much about the details, or the extent of her parent’s ruling.

Not only did they rule swimming out, but also anything else physical. Running, basketball… you name it. And frankly, she understood why.

She had an unfair advantage. A really huge one at that.

Her red eyes stared into the open field. Four of her fellow students were sprinting along the 100-metre-long track. They were fast alright, there was no doubt about it.

But if she were to join in, she would beat them all right at the spot. All while accidentally breaking some record or so.

Chika hadn’t meant to be cocky there, especially when she was the complete opposite. From the outside, everything about her screamed normal, from top to bottom. At least, that’s what most people would say if they saw her.

It wasn’t like she wanted to be normal or anything. Besides, why would she? Normal is boring, that she agrees.

All she wanted was for this secret to not be too much of a burden to keep.

She didn’t even know where to begin. The things she could do, well, even calling it amazing was selling it short. She really didn’t know how else to describe it. But either way, shouldn’t it be something to be proud of? If it were up to her, she would show it off to the entire world.

And that’s kind of the problem.

There is a line between plausibility and implausibility. A line Chika must’ve crossed plenty of times. While being strong is definitely an important trait to have, there is a difference between a well-built athlete weightlifting a load of 200 kg and a teenage girl carrying a pickup truck with one hand. The former made sense, but the latter, the thought of it alone would be terrifying to some.

Sure, she could like, tone it down or something, but the fact still stands. She could do things nobody else could, not even knowing to what extent. She could end up hurting someone if she got careless.

It didn’t help that Chika didn’t know much about herself, mostly in part due to her own parents’ secretive nature whenever she asked for them. Always the ‘it’s not time yet’ type of excuse. Like, how was it that only she possesses all these amazing gifts? Not her parents, not even her sisters. And she found that odd.

She even took it to the internet, which only gave her nothing. All those searches only lead to underwhelming results and dead ends.

What if the dream had something to do with it?

Her racing thoughts were put to a halt when Chika felt a sudden touch on her shoulders.

“Found you!” Chika turned around and saw eyes as blue as the skies. “Where have you been, Chika-chan?”

Chika placed her palms on each other. “Sorry, just thought I needed some fresh air.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” You shrugged it off. "Come on, let's go!"

----

The sun was still shining its bright radiance onto the citizens of Uchiura, but it was only a matter of time before it takes a rightful rest and let the moon does its job for the next several hours. Their shadows were growing taller as the solar ball continued its slow movement westward.

Unlike the hectic sprint earlier the day, Chika was strolling downhill beside You towards the seaside thoroughfare. Quite a drastic change of pace. From there, they continued walking along the sea, taking in the evening breeze. They even managed to buy their favourite drinks for the usual stall.

Empty chatters were interspersed in between their sips. A lot of laughter and fun was shared, raising their moods higher.

But out of the blue, they found themselves caught in a delicate situation.

Their plastic cups were already emptied out by then, but they ended up not being disposed properly. The girls lost their grip on the cups when Chika was suddenly snatched away from You’s side. She turned around, revealing a stranger holding her friend hostage with a dagger.

“Hands up.”

The stranger was menacing, but what was more concerning was the dagger being placed right at her friend’s neck.

Chika was afraid, or at least, she had to act afraid. Sure, nothing could wound her, but her parents had told her to never reveal her secret to anybody else, not even to her closest friends.

Meanwhile, You hesitantly raised her hands up, not wanting to provoke his ire just yet.

“Good. Now show me your purse.”

She heeded the thief’s request, slowly opening the zip of her bag to reveal a purse she kept since middle school. A gift her father once gave her after returning from the sea. A gift she dearly treasured.

The thief’s eyes were locked at her purse, not wanting to lose track of it at all. And You took full advantage of that.

She suddenly tossed it away to her side, which caused his eyes to turn away towards the purse’s direction. Before he could even do anything untowardly at Chika, You lifted her right leg up, kicked his shoulder, and easily disarmed the man.

Sometimes, Chika forgot that her best friend here has a black belt.

Meanwhile, the thief’s face was full of rage. There was no way he was going to lose to a bunch of schoolgirls. He unconsciously released Chika from his tight grip as he tried to reach for his dropped weapon, but unfortunately for him, You got there just in time and kicked it far away along the pavement.

Out of anger, he balled his fist and launched it straight at You’s stomach, causing her to flinch as she landed on the hard ground.

You was ready to rise back up and give him a mean punch, but the stranger chickened away. He would rather lose the money than his pride.

But before he went for a run, the thief had one last thing on his sleeves. He hastily pulled out a gun, aiming it straight at a defenceless Chika.

The grey-haired girl was clearly alarmed, so without a second thought, she jumped right in front of her friend.

Chika was afraid that her friend’s impulsiveness might spell her own death. Starting from the loud bang, the world around her began to slow down. Seconds ticked by for minutes. In front of her, she could see the bullet moving straight at her. Somewhere from her left, You was jumping straight into the bullet’s path.

If Chika stayed still, the bullet would go straight into You’s heart.

She was now torn between keeping her secret tight-lipped and saving her best friend. But then, at this speed, nobody would notice.

The thief had already started to turn away, preparing himself for a frantic dash away from the scene. You’s eyes were closed shut, even she was afraid of what the possible outcome was going to be, it seemed.

Without further ado, Chika moved her right arm around, restraining You from straying any further. Her left arm also caught up with her, placing the girl between her arms. Shortly after, Chika turned one of her palms forward, where the bullet landed on it with lethal force. The metal simply flattened against her skin, before it found itself hidden within her clenched fist.

The thief was already gone by then, but what mattered now was that they were all safe.

“You-chan! Thank god you’re fine!” Chika was unwilling to let go of her hug just yet. “Why would you do that?”

“I, uhh, I don’t want to see my best friend dead,” You responded nervously.

“Me too! I mean, you could’ve been killed!”

“But I wasn’t.” You had returned to her confident self, but suddenly found herself confused when she remembered how the bullet moved. Wasn’t it headed straight at where Chika was? “Wait, I wasn’t?”

Before You could enquire further, Chika placed her head beside hers.

“I don’t know what I would do without you.”

You decided to set her confusion aside in favour of comforting her friend.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it. We’re both still here, and that’s like, the best possible outcome,” she whispered.

They both then pulled away from the embrace, giving them a clear look at each other’s face. They were both in tears, but a smile had begun to form on their lips.

And when You wasn’t looking, Chika sneakily slipped the used bullet inside her bag.

“Hmm, you don’t happen to know where the bullet ended up, did you?”

“I don’t know, he probably missed the mark,” answered Chika, hoping that it was convincing enough. “Must’ve been so desperate after losing against a girl.”

You then pointed her fingers behind Chika. “But shouldn’t there at least be a hole on that wall?”

“Uhh, blanks probably!” To be fair, every bullet is a blank to Chika. “He probably thought those blanks would scare us off.”

They would rather not linger about it any longer, so they instead continued their walk along the sea. Maybe they should call the police though since he was still on the loose.

Chika accompanied You right until the bus stop, even offering to wait alongside her. Unlike Chika, You lived at Numazu, a bigger town just north of Uchiura.

After sending her friend off, Chika made her way to Mito Beach, a strip of beach located just in front of home. Sometimes, she would just sit down over the sand all by herself, looking over the vast oceans. The sun was setting as well, creating a warm orange hue on the skies.

While looking around, Chika found a piece of paper half-buried under the sand. An old flyer, it seemed.

She went to pull it out, eventually folding the sheet into a paper plane.

And then, a throw.

It didn’t get far enough. Didn’t even land on the waters. Chika got up to retrieve the paper plane, cleaning up the paper from the dust and sand. She wasn’t going to give up that easily.

Another throw.

Oops, too strong. Chika might’ve let herself very loose this time, and now, it got very far. And very quick too. She focused her eyesight on the lone piece of paper, trying to see if it could sustain its own flight. She hoped that it didn’t come across anything in its path too; paper planes should be harmless, but a bullet-speed paper plane? Scientists should do some research about it.

Of course, like everything else in this world, its flight must come to an end. At quite a distance, she saw her paper plane plunging into a deep dive, until the ocean completely dampened the poor flyer. Well, it’s not like anything could ever stay in the skies forever, right? What goes up must come down.

As she looked around the beach, Chika noticed that something felt off.

Whose uniform is that?

As if on cue, her ears picked up unnerving sounds from below the sea.

The sound of someone drowning underwater.

She turned her eyes towards the source, looking to see what was happening in more detail. A teenage girl, probably about the same age as her, clad in a blue wetsuit with pink stripes. Strands of burgundy hair were flowing everywhere. Brown eyes bulged in terror while her mouth desperately gasped for air.

Chika knew she couldn’t just stand there. She couldn’t bear leaving this innocent girl like this.

She quickly dashed into the ocean barefoot, plunging herself straight underwater. She swam towards the drowning girl, who had apparently fallen unconscious by now. Chika carefully latched onto her body, before swimming her way upwards to the surface.

A splash soon followed, and both of their heads were now above the surface line. Chika rushed her way back to the shore, her arms still carrying the drowned girl until she rested her body on the sandy ground.

A look inside her showed that the excess water was still present inside her system, and she needed to act quick before the situation degrades. Using her hands, Chika pushed the girl’s chest upwards, hoping that the open air outside would make it easy for the water to be pushed out. Again, she was careful not to be too forceful while compressing her chest, or she might wound up making it worse for her.

After a few moments, her brown eyes blinked back to life. The girl began to cough out as much water as she could, clearing up her respiratory tract so that air could pass through again.

Chika took another look inside her and confirmed it, all her organs were now running back to normal.

“Are you okay?”

The girl turned her head towards Chika.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She coughed again. “Thank you so much…”

Chika thought that it would be for the best to give her some time to recover, so she slowly backed away from her.

The redhead then rose to a sitting position. Her body was still shivering from the cold, but she felt much better than before.

When Chika turned her head around, she swore that she was sitting right next to an angel. Her face was gleaming with an alluring shine under the orange skies. Her brown eyes, hypnotising. And she was eager to see how beautiful her burgundy hair would look like once it was all dried up.

“The water’s still cold at this time of the year, and the bay can get pretty deep if you’re not careful,” Chika told the girl. “Well, if you still wanna go for a dive, I can take you to a diving shop. I know a friend.”

No response came from her, except a nod.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Chika asked.

The redhead shook her head. “No, Tokyo.”

Just, what do they feed the young girls over there? Chika had seen plenty of pretty girls before, be it here or on the television, but never had she came across someone as beautiful as the one beside her.

“What brought you all the way here?”

“I wanted to hear the sound of the sea.”

Chika was curious. “The sound of the sea?”

The girl nodded. “You see, I’m composing a piece for piano, but I can’t get it to have a ‘sea’ feeling.”

“I see— wait, you write music?”

The girl nodded again.

“Ooh, it must be fun making music and all that, right?” Chika beamed up immediately. “I find it amazing that you came all the way here to find some inspiration.”

“Thank you.”

There was another moment of silence before the redhead continued.

“What about you? Do you do anything?”

“Me?” There was a slight bout of hesitation before Chika continued. “Nothing special really.”

“Aww. You saved my life and that’s already special to me.” Her brown eyes looked directly at Chika, her lips arched into a reassuring smile. “I’m sure you’ll find your thing soon.”

“Thanks.”

Suddenly, Chika realised there was something amiss.

“Oh, where are my manners? So sorry about that. I’m Chika Takami by the way!” The orange-haired girl then extended her right hand.

The girl shook her hand. “Don’t worry, it’s alright. My name is Riko Sakurauchi.”

Oh, what a beautiful name.

“Anyways, I have to get back to my parents now,” continued Riko.

“Oh, do you want me to tag along?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll be fine on my own.” Riko then stood up, dusting the sand off her wetsuit. “Glad to meet you, by the way.”

“Glad to meet you too.”

“Now, if you excuse me…”

Riko picked up all her belongings, before walking back up to the pavement.

Chika turned around and waved at her. “See you! Oh, and good luck!”

“You too!”

With that, the visitor disappeared from her sight, leaving her alone on this beach.

Oh, how Chika wished to see more of her around. Sure, the chances of them meeting again might seem unlikely, but one could only hope. Besides, the skies were getting darker now, so it was also time for her to go home.

----

The best thing about having a professional chef as a father is the meals. While others had to fork out an extravagant amount of money, the Takami household had the luxury of eating them for a grand total of free.

The whole family had a pleasant dinner. The table was now littered with empty plates, awaiting their next step at the sink. Now that the meal was finished, lively chatters started to surround the table, where the whole family got to talk about whatever it was that they felt like talking about.

“I heard about what happened with you and your friend.”

Chika was in the middle of some sisterly banter when her father started talking, the topic in hand was heavy enough for the sisters to cease their bantering.

“We’re relieved that you’re both safe,” her mother continued.

“Yeah, that was kinda scary— wait, mom, dad, how did you know?”

“It’s a small town, sweetie,” Mrs. Takami answered. “News gets around easily here.”

“Oh. Well, you know you don’t have to worry too much about me—"

“That’s not what we’re worried about,” her father interjected.

“What do you mean?”

The entire room fell silent. Her parents seemingly refused to state the obvious.

Ugh, not this talk again.

“Look, if you’re worried about the secret thing, it’s alright,” Chika calmly reassured them. “She doesn’t know.”

Her father looked straight at her. “We trust you. Nothing we were told implied otherwise. It’s just, you know, it’s not the first time you got yourself in a situation like this, so chances of your secret leaking out could only be more likely.”

Chika was well aware of what her father meant. Once in a while, there would be news of inexplicable rescues circulating around town, followed by rumours of some guardian angel. The thing is, she kept her trail clean. The closest anybody could describe her was as a blur of orange, which, for all she knew, might as well be a mikan being thrown around at high speeds. Nobody could ever trace it back to her.

“We’re proud of you, sweetie. We really are. In fact, this secret had been as much a burden to us as it is to you.” Her mother smiled. “You have no idea how much I just want to scream at all my neighbours about the wonderful things my precious daughter here did. My guardian angel.”

“But until the time is right,” her father cleared his throat, “you got to keep this side of yourself a secret.”

While Chika appreciated the gesture, she didn’t quite like how whenever she saved people’s lives or helped prevent some tragedy, the first thing her parents had in mind was if her secret remained intact.

“Then what am I supposed to do when the secret becomes impossible to keep? Like, let’s say: somebody was in danger and nobody else could save them but you. Do you just let them die? No, right?” Chika was beginning to lose her temper. “At least I’m putting my gifts into good use!”

“I know, and that’s great to hear, sweetheart. It’s just that, it doesn’t hurt to be careful—”

Chika interrupted her mother. “Nobody noticed yet.”

“What if they do?”

“What if they do, dad? Why does it matter?”

“Everything, Chika.” The father sighed. “When the world finds out what you can do, it’s gonna change everything. Our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human. Everything.”

“What, just because I could do all this crazy stuff? Why should they be afraid of that?”

The father sighed. “People are afraid of what they don’t understand.”

“But dad, what I don’t understand is how come I’m the only one with these… gifts.” All her pent-up frustration was starting to surface. “Like, we’re family, so it should be something running in our blood, right? Yet I don’t see dad, mom, or even Shima-nee and Mito-nee bending metal with bare hands or something.”

“You’ll understand when the time comes.”

“And when is that, dad? You’ve been telling me that every time I want to know more about myself. Myself! My own body!”

Shima and Mito who sat beside her were starting to get worried with their younger sister’s increasingly belligerent behaviour.

“Chika, lower your voice, please.” The mother tried to calm her down.

Chika instantly cupped her mouth. All that repressed anger and frustration must’ve gotten the best of her. “Oops. I’m really, really sorry.”

Luckily, her parents simply waved it off. Surprisingly, they both began to whisper at each other. Chika could’ve just eavesdropped on them like they were talking just beside her ear, but at that time, she was too tired to be bothered.

When they finished, her father took a deep breath, before turning his eyes back at her.

“I suppose that time might as well be now. Follow me.”

Finally! Chika was relieved to hear that. This was the moment she’s been waiting for! Maybe all those lingering questions she had in the back of her mind would finally find its answers.

She walked alongside her father, following him to the roofed walkways behind the main building. From there, they veered off-road through a dirt path, leading them to a small wooden cabin surrounded by heavy vegetation.

Isn’t this the shed?

She had never been to the inn’s shed for several reasons, primarily: one, her parents didn’t allow her to do so, and two, even if they did, it wasn’t like there was anything interesting. This is where they store all those old, rusty equipment that were past beyond its expiry date, so they were just left inside the shed as scraps.

Her father invited her to come inside after turning on the lights. As she stepped inside, she could see plenty of ancient relics decaying and littered with cobwebs. Chika failed to see how any of this relates to her.

They continued walking until they came across something huge.

It was about the size of a car, and it was completely covered by a thick veil meant to keep the dust away.

“Pull it off.”

“Me?”

Her father nodded. This was all about her, after all.

While she could just see through the fabric, she would rather not ruin the surprise. Whatever that surprise is.

She inched herself closer to the edge of this mysterious object. Here goes nothing.

Without further ado, Chika pulled the covering off, despite still doubting its relevance. But when the object finally revealed itself to her eyes, she was caught stunned. Speechless.

What in the world?